


Oblivious

by erytheis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Irondad, Jealous Peter Parker, M/M, Peter doesn't know what's going on, both to Peter and Harley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 11:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18570901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erytheis/pseuds/erytheis
Summary: Peter Parker is oblivious. That's the understatement of the year.





	Oblivious

Peter wasn’t jealous. Of course he wasn’t. Why would he be?

Mr. Stark had introduced him to Harley a few months ago, and he’d been fine. Sure, Peter took his time to warm up to strangers, but they were both huge nerds, to quote Mr. Stark, so they should get on like fire. And they did, for a while.

Peter liked Harley. He still did, he was cool, cooler than Peter at least, which wasn’t very difficult to begin with, but still. Harley had told him he also used to be bullied at school, but that ended when he kicked his bully’s ass with a potato gun Mr. Stark had helped him built.

That didn’t make Peter jealous, of course not. He also built things with Mr. Stark, like his suit’s upgrades and other projects for his Stark Industries internship. He wasn’t jealous that Harley was also kind of Mr. Stark’s protégée, and he was being honest. Peter liked Harley, and he loved the occasional engineering session with both him and Mr. Stark. Really, he wasn’t jealous of _that_.

But then he introduced Harley to Ned. He’d talked to both about the other, and they wanted to meet. Harley, just like Ned, liked the programming part better, so having them meet each other was the logical thing to do. And it went great! They _did_ get on like fire. And Peter was glad his best friend liked his other new friend.

Until he wasn’t anymore. At first, Peter was the nexus between them, but soon he started being forgotten. He still occasionally hanged out with Harley, and he saw Ned every day like always, and sometimes the three of them met, but one day he showed up at Ned’s apartment and his mom told him he was out with Harley.

Okay, not a big deal. It wasn’t like they weren’t allowed to hang out without Peter. The problem was Peter didn’t think they would ever do it.

Alright, so he was acknowledging it, at least to himself. Maybe he was a little jealous because of _that_.

Because it hadn’t been a one-time thing. It starting happening regularly, and sure, the three of them still met, sometimes even MJ joined them, but Harley and Ned started hanging out more and more and alone. Yes, it bothered him, because Ned was his best friend, his guy in the chair, and Harley was stealing him.

He hadn’t felt jealous when Mr. Stark had introduced Harley as ‘my other kid’. Of course he hadn’t, it wasn’t like he had a monopoly on Mr. Stark’s mentoring privileges, and if someone was to be jealous it should be Harley, who’d been the first. But Harley wasn’t, because he was cool and nice and he wouldn’t be jealous of someone like Peter.

But stealing his best friend was another thing completely. He’d like to hate Harley, he really would, but he couldn’t find it in himself, not when Harley was being so nice to him, and Ned seemed so excited to hang out with him.

The first time he admitted it aloud, he was having ice cream with MJ after school, Ned nowhere to be seen, presumably with Harley.

“Ned and Harley spent too much time together.”

MJ raised an eyebrow and stared at him, while slowly taking a spoonful of her ice cream and bringing it to her mouth, all without breaking eye contact. Peter squirmed on his seat, feeling uncomfortable, and MJ knew it.

“Stop looking at me like that! It’s true. I’ve only hung up with Ned after school once this week! He’s always occupied!” Peter whined, and realized he was exaggerating, but he wanted his best friend back.

“I swear, Peter, you are too dependent on Ned. Let him live his life, too,” MJ said, finally averting her gaze back to her chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

“It’s not like that! I love the two of them being friends, but I don’t like them excluding me. If it weren’t for me, they never would’ve met.”

“Do you realize you sound like a spoiled child?” MJ asked, and Peter had to agree. Maybe he was overreacting, but he’d kept those feelings internalized for a few weeks already, and he needed to let them out. Even if he sounded like a petulant child.

“It’s just that sometimes I feel like they don’t want me there.”

“Believe me, _you_ don’t want to always be there.”

“What do you mean by that?”

MJ shrugged, and finished scooping the last of her ice cream. Peter hadn’t realized that his was pretty much melted.

“You’re cute, being so oblivious. That explains a lot.”

“What are you talking about?” Peter was lost. Completely lost.

“Come on, let’s make you forget about the oh so tragic loss of your best friend,” MJ said as she got up, ignoring Peter’s nasty look. He knew she was joking, but still, it kinda hurt. “Let’s go to that art gallery in Chinatown, I’ve heard there’s a new exposition.”

MJ took his hand to make him stand up, and then pulled him along, still not letting go of his hand. At least, even if Harley stole Ned away from him, he would still have Michelle.

 

* * *

 

“Hey kid, how was your day?”

Peter looked up at Mr. Stark. “Good. School was boring, but then I went to have ice cream with Michelle, and then we went to an art gallery to see these abstract things she likes. And then patrol was okay, nothing big happened.”

“Good,” Mr. Stark answered before taking a sip of his mug. Peter suspected there was coffee in it, despite being late in the evening. “Just keep her happy and you’ll be fine.”

Peter frowned, not knowing what Mr. Stark was on about, but said nothing.

“Why are you pouting?” Mr. Stark sat next to him on the couch and poked him at the side with his free arm when Peter tried to ignore him.

“I’m not pouting,” Peter denied, pouting.

“Come on, kid. I know when something’s on your mind.”

For a good minute Peter stayed silent, and so did Mr. Stark, the only sounds in the room coming from the TV.

“Mr. Stark, do you think I have a reason to be jealous?” Peter finally asked, self-conscious. Maybe MJ was right and he was behaving like a spoiled brat.

“First, how many times I’ve told you to call me Tony? Second, I need more info about that. Jealous of who? For what?”

“Of Harley,” Peter admitted in a low voice, and Mr. Stark almost chocked on his coffee.

“You’re jealous of Harley? Oh kid, you don’t have to be jealous of him. I love you both the same, you don’t have to...”

“It’s not about you, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, and he almost laughed at Mr. Stark’s expression.

“Oh…” Mr. Stark looked like a strange mix of relief and annoyance. It was funny, and now Peter did laugh. “Why is it then?”

Peter deflated, the smile banishing from his face. “He and Ned started hanging out without me. It’s like Ned’s finding himself a better, cooler best friend, and I’m jealous of that.”

Mr. Stark looked puzzled for a second, and then laughed. Laughed! At Peter’s face!

If Peter was someone else (maybe Harley), he would have angrily stormed off. He’d opened up to Mr. Stark, and he laughed at him. That’s why Peter had trust issues.

Mr. Stark seemed to notice something in his face, because he stopped laughing and looked a little worried. He put a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Kid, you are so far off you wouldn’t believe it. I knew you were oblivious, but really?”

“What…?” Oblivious, MJ had also called him that. “What do you mean?”

“Peter, do you really not know?”

“Not know what? I hate this, I never know what’s going on with anybody!”

Mr. Stark sighed, smiling softly.

“Kid, Ned isn’t looking for a new best friend. He’s looking for a boyfriend.”

The words took a few seconds to sink in. “A… looking for a boyfriend?”

“Well, not looking, he’s found him. Pete, Harley and Ned are dating.”

“Oh…” Peter was taken aback. But if they were dating, wouldn’t Peter have noticed? He was Ned’s best friend, he saw him every day, he couldn’t be that…

 Oblivious. Ugh.

Suddenly, everything made sense. Harley and Ned’s interaction, them hanging out without Peter, MJ’s comments… He really was oblivious.

“How didn’t you notice?” Mr. Stark asked, smiling. “They look at each other the same way you and Michelle do.”

“What?!” Peter shrieked, jumping up from the couch and knocking Mr. Stark’s mug out of his hand. At least it was already empty. “I’m not… I’m not dating MJ, I’m…”

“Oh, kid. You really are oblivious,” Mr. Stark repeated, laughing again as Peter’s mind worked the extra shift. Was he dating MJ? Thinking about it, maybe he was. And it was really nice.

“How come being Spiderman is the thing that makes most sense in my life?” Peter dramatically flopped down on the couch again. What even was his life?

“It’s just puberty, Pete, it’ll pass. But didn’t you realize _you_ were dating Michelle?”

“I… I guess I didn’t. But does she really like me?”

“You should talk to her. And to Ned. Really, I thought I was bad at communication, but you win this round.”

“You’re being mean, Mr. Stark.”

“And you’re being a moping teenager. Come on, it’s late. I’ll drive you to your aunt’s place. I can’t wait to tell her that you not only didn’t know about Ned and Harley, but not even about _you_ and Michelle…”

“You’re still being mean! I hate this!”

But he didn’t. Actually, now that it all made sense, mostly, he didn’t hate this. He loved it.


End file.
